I returned from a 16 day trip to and around Spain about a month ago, and have finally decided I can procrastinate no further! I told myself I would blog about the trip while I was on it, and while I did update my Instagram accordingly, I did no such thing. Like on every trip I take, my grandmother warned me that if I did not write down what I’d done, I would forget the special memories I’d made, so: now is the time. So, briefly, for my own benefit than for those of you that may be reading this (apologies, there will be travel-related tips coming your way soon in future posts.) Here is (the beginning of) a lengthy overview of my 16 day excursion!

My friend Remy and I hanging in Madrid our first day together!

Planning the Trip

As a preface, I traveled with a close friend from high school, Remy, who was luck enough to find out in Fall 2016 that she would find herself in Spain in Summer 2017 thanks to some amazing nannying duties. (Remy is a teacher during the school year!) Come Thanksgiving time, she asked if any of our group of friends might have interest or availability to travel with her. Now, most of our group worked full-time and a lengthy trip to Europe was not in the realm of possibilities. I, however, was a contracted/freelance worker, which granted me more flexibility on when I could be where. I told her I’d keep my eyes open for cheap flights and would get back to her.

Here is a fun fact: though I’ve been a freelance worker since leaving college almost three years ago, I didn’t even know “Freelancer” was a possible career option until very recently. Growing up with the privilege of attending a great K-12 school and later University, let’s just say that becoming a freelance professional was probably not on my parent’s list of “potential post-graduate career options for Celia.” It wasn’t really on mine either.

I remember how when growing up people would ask me the question, “What do you want to be?” I’d always fire back with jobs that most would consider to be full-time positions. One day, it would be “Maybe a lawyer like my parents” or “A dentist” or “An English teacher” or “I’ll work in advertising!” Of course coupled with all of those full time careers, I’d always also mention “Oh, and maybe an author, too! I want to write books” or “And an actor!” Basically, I always planned on being something, but I also always planned on being everything.

There’s nothing quite like, after a very long work week, stabbing something repetitively with a huge knife. It was like the spaghetti squash was waiting for me. Admittedly, it was. I purchased this vegetable wonder two months ago, at the beginning of January. Entering my apartment at 7:30pm, just then arriving back home from an unexpectedly long work day, I was at a loss as to if I had anything in my kitchen to prepare even a semblance of a meal. Then I remembered: the yellow wonder hidden in a grocery bag behind the microwave, as if it knew what was to be its fate one day. I wondered if it would still even be fresh. But, lo! It was, and after preheating my oven to 375, the slaughter cooking began. [Actual recipe on How to Bake a Spaghetti Squash below.]